1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the field of filtration of aquarium water, and is specifically a continuously self-cleaning method and systems for treating organic waste in aquarium water by collecting, macerating, screening it to a digestible size, and subjecting it to denitrifying microbes within a media, to breakdown and digest the organic waste, before returning the treated water to the aquarium.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are many different systems and methods for breaking down or filtering waste material in aquarium water. Some of which contain similarities to the present invention in how they break down the waste, self-clean, screen the outlet material, and subject the waste to a denitrifying microbe media to complete the nitrogen cycle, or digest the waste. These similar systems include protein skimmers, aerating filters, fluidized bed filters, micro screen filters, self-cleaning filters, and under-gravel filters. Despite the variety of similar systems in the prior art, they are all deficient in being able to continuously go through a complete digestion cycle to remove organic waste from aquarium water for extended periods of time without complexity, or regular cleaning and maintenance.
Protein skimmers, Fractionators, Aerating filters, and “water polishing filters” use bubbles to break down waste, and separate proteins from aquarium water. The most similar example to the present invention is U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,867 that discloses an aquarium filter with a protein skimmer, mechanical filter, and bio media wheel, in series. This design does not have the ability to macerate the incoming organic material into a size small enough to be readily digested by microbes. The mechanical filter that removes large particles does not self clean, and therefore, has to be frequently cleaned or replaced.
Fluidized bed filters, bead bed filters, and bio media filters use comminution and biological microbe systems to break down waste products. Most are dependent on specific gravity to separate the treated fluid from the media. Some have screens to prevent the comminuting balls or beads for exiting the treatment chamber. However, none of them teach a macerating/comminuting chamber with a continuously self-cleaning screen covering the discharge outlet that only allows, optimally sized, easily digestible, organic material to pass out of the macerating/comminuting chamber and into a media containing denitrifying microbes.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,153,430 discloses a biological digestion method that uses a particle comminuting step to reduce the size of the treated material to less than 10 micrometers, before it is subjected to microbes. Tunnacliffe et al. teaches using cavitation, shear forces, high-speed stirrers, contra flow spiral baffles or vanes, contra-rotating paddles, and ball mills to reduce the size of the material to be treated. Tunnacliffe et al. also teaches the benefits of reducing the organic material to a size digestible by microbes. However, Tunnacliffe et al. does not teach a macerating/comminuting chamber with a continuously self-cleaning screen covering the discharge outlet that only allows, optimally sized, easily digestible, organic material to pass out of the macerating/comminuting chamber and into a media containing denitrifying microbes.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,080,304 teaches pumping water into a casing filled with fluidized pieces to clarify aquarium water. Gomi's device teaches us that, when the fluidized pieces are intended to be the substrate for denitrifying microbes, high speed impacts between the pieces should be minimized to keep from injuring the microbes and shearing them off of the fluidized pieces. This system would not be advantageous in a high speed macerating/comminuting chamber designed to pulverize organic material. The screen covering the outlet of Gomi's treatment chamber is only intended to keep the fluidized pieces from exiting. Gomi's system also teaches using a prefilter on the electric submersible inlet that requires regular cleaning. Gomi does not teach a macerating/comminuting chamber with a continuously self-cleaning screen covering the discharge outlet that only allows, optimally sized, easily digestible, organic material to pass into a media containing denitrifying microbes.
Many filters use micro screens to filter out large particles, but most of these are subject to blockages and must be cleaned regularly. Some of the filter systems have self-cleaning or automatic cleaning features but these are predominantly back flush systems that require the system to shut off while fluid flows backwards through the filter. Clearly, the ability of the present invention to continuously self-clean without having to stop for a back flush cycle is a huge improvement.
Reverse flow under-gravel filters become blocked when large waste particles become stuck in them. To prevent blockages and dead spots, they require some sort of pre-filter to keep large particles from entering and clogging the under-gravel filter media. Since the current invention only allows, optimally sized, easily digestible organic material to pass out of the macerating/comminuting chamber, the exiting organic material is small enough to pass into the bottom of the under-gravel filter bed and not clog the spaces between the gravel.
It will be seen that the method and systems for digesting organic waste in aquarium water of the present invention provides a solution to the aforementioned and below described problems, by providing a continuously self-cleaning method and systems for treating organic waste in aquarium water by collecting, macerating, screening it to a digestible size, and subjecting it to denitrifying microbes within a media, to breakdown and digest the organic waste, before returning the treated water to the aquarium.